Francis bowes stevens



F. -B. STEVENS.

RAILWAY RAIL.

, No. 299,287; Patented May 27,1884.

UNITED Strait-rs Parent @rrren".

FRANCIS BOIVES STEVENS, OFIIOBOKEN, NEIV JERSEY.

RAILWAY-RAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 299,287, dated May 27, 1884.

Application filed September 13, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern":

Be it known that I, FRANCIS BOWEs STE- VENS, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have made an invention of certain new and useful Improvements in Railwayltails; and I do hereby declare that the following, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description and specification thereof.

My invention relates to compound rails; and its object is to secure, as far as practicable, a continuous tread upon which the wheels can travel, so as to reduce, wholly or partially, the jars produced by the passage of the wheels over the transverse joints of the heads or treads of the rails. Many devices for this general purpose have heretofore been devised.

The leading features of my invention are, the division of the rail and its tread into three parts, so that there is no continuous trans verse joint for more than two parts, and the construction of the three parts or members, so that there may be no vertical movement between the three narrow treads composing the tread of the compound rail, so that the members may not open or spread at the divisions of the tread, and so that the expansion and contraction of the members may not cause the rail to buckle or strain.

Figure 1 of the drawings represents a vertical transverse section of my compound rail, taken through the broken line w x of Fig; 3. Fig. 2 represents a similar partial section thereof, with the forms of certain parts varied. Fig. 3 is a top view of Fig. 1 on a smaller scale, and represents the compound rail extending throughout the length of the track. Fig. 4: is an end view of an ordinary T- rail, and represents portions of it removed, so that the compound rail may form a junction with it.

The said compound rail, as represented in said drawings, consists, essentially, of three members-viz., the central member, A, and two lateral or side members, 13 and B-and each of these three members is constructed, essentially, with a tread which the wheels traverse, and with a base or flange, the base of the compound rail being adapted to rest on the wooden cross-ties or other support, and to be secured by the common railway-spike.

In the drawings the tread of the central member is designated d, and the treads of the lateral or side members are designated, respectively, e and e. The base of the central member is designated f, and the broad bases or flanges of the lateral members are designated, respectively, b and b. The central and the two side members are combined laterally, as shown in Fig. 1, and longitudinally, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the members break joint in the direction of the length of the rail, and that the treads of the three members combine to form a three-part tread for the wheels, without a through transverse joint at any place. The three members are secured together by means of transverse screw-bolts k, as shown in Fig. 1, where the stems of the screw-bolts are shown to pass through holes formed in the webs h z iof the three members. In Fig. 1 the bolts are shown smaller than the bolt-holes, to allow for longitudinal expansion and contraction between the members, so that the rail may not buckle or strain.

In order that the side members may have the requisite elasticity to keep a constant strain on the bolts, I construct my side members, B B, with their inner surfaces concave, so that cavities Z and Z, Fig. 1, are formed at each side of the central member; and that the side men1- bers bear against the central member only at their treads, and at or adjacent to their bases or flanges, and to insure the contact of the three members at the tread, and to keep them from opening or spreading at the divisions of the tread, I prolong these cavities nearly to the surface of the tread, and make the bearings of the treads e c of the side members, B B, against the side of the tread d of the central member, A, narrow, as shown in Fig.

1. Thefcavities Z Z operate incidentally to be communicated to both side members, and,

on the other hand, that a vertical pressure on one or both of the side members shall be communicated to the central member.

In order that the central member, A, may be firmly sustained by the side members, B B, I construct the sides of the base f of the central member with inclined shoulders m m, which are received upon corresponding inclined ledges, at al, of the side members. One

mode of arranging theseshoulders and ledges is represented in Fig. 1, where the inclined shoulders m m are constructed upon the base or flange f of the central member, A, and bear upon corresponding inclined ledges,nn,of the lateral or side members, B B. The broken lines on f show the shoulders drawn at a more acute angle, and below the base of Fig. 1 the shoulders (shown separately) are curved. Instead of constructing the said side shoulders at the edges of the flange or base of the central member, they may be constructed upon the bottom of the web of the central member A, as represented in Fig. 2, the ledges on the side members,B B, being formed at corresponding parts thereof. In order, on the other hand, that the base or flange of the central member, A, may participate in the support of the tread of the side members, B B,I construct the side members with bearings g g, which are horizontal or thereabout, and which are applied to corresponding bearings, jj, of the central member. The pressure of the bolts k on the two side members, B B, to bring them together will at the same time force the shoulders at m against the ledges n n and the bearings j j against the bearings g g. The rail thus described may extend throughout the length of the track, the three members being so combined as to break joints transversely, and compound rails should be fastened firmly together throughout the length of the track.

The compound rail may be connected to an ordinary T-rail by removing a portion of the tread and a portion of the flanges from each side of an ordinary T-rail. Thus if, in Fig.- 4:, the portions marked 1;, o, o, and '0 are removed from the ordinaryT-rail, the remaining portion will coincide with the central member shown in Fig. 1. By this means the compound rail may be used as a long fished joint connecting two ordinary T-rails, or a track laid with the compound rails may be joined to a siding or to another track laid with the ordinary T- rail.

Having thus described the best mode known to me of embodying my invention for practical use, I declare that I am aware that many compound rails have been previously constructed, and also that some of these have been composed of three members of some kind, and also that compound rails having thetread divided or split in two parts have been tried on several railroads.

I claim as my invention- 1. The compound rail constructed of the three members, substantially as described.

2. The compound rail constructed, substantially as described, of a central member having a narrow tread and a flanged base, combined with two side members, each of which has a narrow tread and a flanged base, the three, when combined forming a compound rail with a three-part tread and a three-part base.

3. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the central member of the rail having a narrow tread, a flanged base, side bearings for the side members of the rail, and inclined shoulders, with two side members, each having a narrow tread, a flanged base, a bearing to rest upon the flanged base of the central member, and an inclined ledge to sustain the inclined shoulders of the central memher, the said three members when combined forming a central and side member supporting compound rail, having a three-part tread and a three-part base, with the central member sustained by the side members and the side members sustained by the central member.

4.. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the central member of the rail having a narrow tread, a flanged base, side bearings for the side members of the rail, and inclined shoulders, with two side members, each having a narrow tread, a flanged base,

a concave inner side, a bearing to rest upon the flanged base of the central member, and

an inclined ledge to sustain the inclined shoulders of the central member, the said three members when combined forming a central and side member supporting elastic compound rail, having a three-part tread and a three-part base, with the central member sustained by the side members and the side members sustained by the central member.

5. The combination of the compound rail constructed of three members, substantially as described, with an ordinary T-rail having portions of each side of its head and of each no side of its base removed, as described.

FRANCIS BOVES STEVENS.

Witnesses:

GUSTAV STRENG, CHAS. W. BENSON. 

